Chest Workout

Build a Bigger, Stronger Chest

The Payoff

A Stronger Upper Body!

The heavy weights you'll use in this chest workout develop muscle fibers that produce strength and power. And because your chest is one of your largest muscle groups, this added strength improves performance in many upper-body and total-body lifts.

Extra Muscle!

This chest workout routine uses several body-weight moves that train stabilizing muscles, in addition to your largest muscles, so you end up working more muscle overall while improving your sense of balance.

Fewer Crunches!

The pushups and dumbbell single-arm bench press in this routine challenge your core stabilization while building your chest. The result: Your entire midsection works just as hard as in any ab exercise.

Benchmark of Success

How Do You Measure Up?

The best barometer of chest strength is your maximum bench press—the most weight you can lift for a single repetition. To determine your max, you'll need a spotter.

Grab an empty bar and perform 10 repetitions of the barbell bench press. (Go to page 4 of this poster for a description.) Rest for 30 to 90 seconds, then add 20 to 40 pounds and repeat. Continue this process until the weight feels difficult. Then do only one repetition per set until you work up to the heaviest weight you can lift once—your one-repetition maximum, or one-rep max.

Track Your Progress

Record your one-rep max on a piece of paper. Then follow the plan on the next few pages of this article and retest yourself every 4 weeks.

Your Goal: The Perfect Chest

Your Time: 18 Minutes

This routine attacks the primary cause of puniness. "The mistake most men make when looking for more chest size and strength is always sticking to the traditional eight-to-12-repetition principle," says Jason Ferruggia, owner of Renegade Strength and Conditioning, in Warren, New Jersey. Ferruggia's first rule: Diversify your repetition schemes and emphasize heavier-weight, lower-repetition sets. This allows you to target your body's fast-twitch muscle fibers, the ones with the greatest potential for growth.

At times, this workout calls for you to lift only your body weight while in a suspended position. Think gymnasts, who build rock-hard bodies without ever picking up a weight. "Moving your body through space is more taxing to your central nervous system than regular weight training," says Ferruggia. This means you'll improve your brain-to-muscle connection, which will train your body to recruit more muscle in every exercise.

Do Phase 1 for 4 weeks, working your chest twice a week with two separate routines (Day 1 and Day 2). (Do the exercises shown here as the chest portion of your upper- or total-body routine.) Rest at least 2 days between workouts. Complete Phase 2 workouts in the next 4 weeks.

Do five - 7 reps with each hand. Complete 4 sets, resting 2 minutes after each set.; 0603 poster; bench press; chest; fitness; Perform 6 - 8 reps. Do 3 sets and rest 2 minutes after each set.; 0603 poster; bench press; chest; fitness; Do as many pushups as you can, then rest for 90 seconds. Do a total of 3 sets.; 0603 poster; chest; fitness; pushup; Perform this exercise as a superset with the Parallel Bar Dip. That is, do eight to 12 reps of the dumbbell incline fly, then immediately move to the parallel bar dip.; 0603 poster; chest; fitness; fly; Do as many reps as you can, then rest for 3 minutes and repeat the superset one time, performing a total of two sets of each exercise. ; 0603 poster; chest; dips; fitness; Perform 12 to 15 repetitions, then rest for 1 minute. Do two sets.; 0603 poster; chest; external rotation; fitness; Do 5sets of 4reps using 80%of your one-rep max (1RM). In week 6, do 6sets of 3 reps with 85% of your 1RM. In week 7, do 5 sets of 2 reps with 90% of your 1RM. In week 8, repeat the test, then do 4 sets of 1 rep with approx. 90% of your new 1RM.; 0603 poster; bench press; chest; fitness; Perform this exercise as a superset with the next move: Do eight to 12 repetitions, then immediately move on to the cable lying fly.; 0603 poster; chest; fitness; pushup; Do eight to 10 repetitions, rest 150 seconds, then repeat the superset (pushup and cable lying fly) two times for a total of three sets.; 0603 poster; chest; fitness; fly; Do 10 to 12 repetitions with each hand, then rest 60 seconds. Repeat one time, for a total of two sets.; 0603 poster; chest; external rotation; fitness; Build a Bigger, Stronger Chest http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid474445769http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=211755171

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